Siddhanth Kapoor is a man of many talents — an actor, assistant director, singer and an avid poker player. The 37-year-old is best known for his portrayal of antagonist Chintu Dhedha in the web series Bhaukaal, directed by Jatin Wagle.
Son of veteran actor Shakti Kapoor and brother of actor Shraddha Kapoor, Siddhanth belongs to a family that has always been associated with Bollywood. A trained singer, he had previously lent his voice to the song Hum Hindustani for Dhamaka Records, which is now streaming on YouTube.
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Indianexpress.com recently caught up with Siddhanth ahead of his participation in Baazi Poker Tour Goa, a National Poker Series, to know more about the actor’s perspective of his career, his multifaceted repertoire of talents, his relationship with his family, the rigours while preparing for Bhaukaal 2, and more.
Edited excerpts
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Tell us about your childhood and upbringing. How close are you to your family?
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My family and I are extremely close. I have been fortunate enough to have a simple upbringing, regardless of my father’s stature. Since my profession is such that I’m mostly occupied with work, I cherish each moment that I spend with my family.
How were you introduced to poker?
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I started playing poker on Facebook back in 2010. Eventually, I developed an extremely strong interest in it and have been playing professionally ever since. National Poker Series has always been a special event that I look forward to, and this time, on account of COVID restrictions easing up, I’d be honoured to attend the Baazi Poker Tour (BPT) in Goa between 23-25 March.
How do you approach acting? Tell us about your career in Bollywood thus far.
Well, I love acting — I get that from my father. Since childhood, I’ve wanted to choose characters that are crazy and edgy in their own way that probably somebody else wouldn’t want to.
Did movies and Bollywood play a major role in your life growing up?
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I believe life is a movie. Growing up, I’d be extremely fascinated with what used to roll out behind and on camera. Having witnessed my father’s contribution to the array of iconic characters heightened my love for Bollywood. It has been the strongest force in my life and will continue to be in the future as well.
How did you get interested in music? Were you always encouraged or was it something you wanted to pursue by yourself?
Music is my healer in many ways. Whenever I’m DJ-ing, singing or even producing, it gives me a lot of satisfaction and happiness. I’ve been DJ-ing for 22 years, and it keeps me close to music. I’ve always loved music more than anything else. It keeps me sane and calm.
Tell us about your recent venture Bhaukaal 2. How was it working on a series that’s inspired by real-life events?
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The first season of Bhaukaal was highly appreciated by the audience and they have happily accepted season 2 also. The clear feedback from season 1 was that our audience wanted to see how well the story would pan out in season 2. It has everything — strong characters, a strong storyline, and certainly a real-life element to it. I believe it’s a kind of a story that everyone should watch, and one can easily get hooked on it. The role that I am playing in the series is negative and crazy, the kind I’ve never done before. So, in totality, it has been a fulfilling experience.
How did you prepare yourself for the role?
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The role is quite challenging, mostly because the accent is not my own and the character I am playing is negative — something I have never done before. I had to work on it, and a lot of people — my writer, my co-star Pradeep Nagar — helped me in preparing for my character. Also, all this was at the time when Covid was at its peak, so I really had to keep myself calm while working through the constant scare.
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What’s next for you?
My journey has been nice. I take things as they come, and the variety has certainly helped me in growing as a human being as well. Being a professional musician, a poker player and an actor, there’s always something for me to work on. Currently, I am working on films, shows, music and looking forward to the poker series.
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